Swiss Build World's Longest Tunnel

It's full steam ahead for the world's longest railroad tunnel project, as Swiss drilling crews smashed through the final sheet of Alpine rock early Friday morning. The 35-mile Goddhart tunnel, set to open in 2017, is expected to revolutionize European travel, providing a high-speed underground passageway through the sprawling Swiss Alps region. At 155 mph, the once-4-hour journey between Zurich and Milan will soon take just 2.5 hours.

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But the $10.3 billion engineering feat is also symbolic. "The Gotthard will forever be a spectacular and grandiose monument with which all tunnels will be compared," said Morotz Leuenberge, Swiss Transport Minister. The record-breaking tunnel surpassed the 33.5-mile Seikan rail tunnel in Japan and the 31.4-mile Channel Tunnel linking England and France.